Cost of living comparison

Syria

compared to

Turkey

Istanbul vs. Damascus Cost of Living Summary

Istanbul is 78.8% more expensive than Damascus.

Restaurants: pay 13.5% more in Istanbul
Groceries: pay 41.2% more in Istanbul
Transportation: pay 59.4% more in Istanbul
Housing: pay 89.3% more in Istanbul
Childcare: pay 15.0 times more in Istanbul
Entertainment and Sports: pay 70.8% more in Istanbul
Clothing: pay 49.8% more in Istanbul

The cost of childcare, housing, entertainment and sports, transportation, clothing, and groceries in Istanbul are more expensive than in Damascus. Notably, childcare and housing are significantly more expensive in Istanbul.

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Istanbul vs. Damascus Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Istanbul instead of Damascus, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 13.5% more for restaurants

	Damascus	Istanbul
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$10.00 SYP130K	$12.19 TRY603.79	+21.9%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$7.00 SYP91,014	$9.35 TRY462.91	+33.6%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.25 SYP29,254	$1.73 TRY85.71	-23.1%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.85 SYP11,008	$0.58 TRY28.65	-31.7%
Average			+13.5%

Damascus vs. Istanbul - Cost of restaurants

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pay 41.2% more for groceries

	Damascus	Istanbul
Bread 1 loaf	$0.40 SYP5,199	$0.92 TRY45.58	+130.2%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$1.96 SYP25,477	$5.28 TRY261.28	+169.3%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.03 SYP52,433	$4.69 TRY231.97	+16.2%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.59 SYP20,653	$2.41 TRY119.39	+51.8%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.59 SYP33,645	$2.54 TRY125.71	-1.9%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.47 SYP6,174	$0.85 TRY42.16	+79.3%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.63 SYP8,218	$1.03 TRY50.86	+62.5%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.51 SYP6,582	$0.57 TRY28.34	+13.1%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.47 SYP6,154	$0.84 TRY41.37	+76.5%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.35 SYP4,563	$0.31 TRY15.36	-11.6%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.35 SYP4,608	$0.29 TRY14.17	-19.3%
Average			+41.2%

Damascus vs. Istanbul - Cost of groceries

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pay 59.4% more for transportation

	Damascus	Istanbul
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$13.98 SYP182K	$5.43 TRY269.03	-61.1%
Monthly public transit pass	$10.00 SYP130K	$67.03 TRY3,318.85	+570.3%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$15,000.00 SYP195M	$50,810.11 TRY3M	+238.7%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$13.15 SYP171K	$8.40 TRY416.09	-36.1%
Average			+59.4%

Damascus vs. Istanbul - Cost of transportation

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pay 89.3% more for housing

	Damascus	Istanbul
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$46.25 SYP601K	$16.15 TRY799.42	-65.1%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$523.33 SYP7M	$996.85 TRY49,357.64	+90.5%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$186.00 SYP2M	$647.83 TRY32,076.47	+248.3%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$107.06 SYP1M	$68.87 TRY3,410.06	-35.7%
Average			+89.3%

Damascus vs. Istanbul - Cost of housing

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pay 15.0 times more for childcare

	Damascus	Istanbul
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$66.67 SYP867K	$1,021.62 TRY50,584.39	+1432.4%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$1,780.73 SYP23M	$25,999.20 TRY1M	+1360.0%
Average			+1395.8%

Damascus vs. Istanbul - Cost of childcare

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pay 70.8% more for entertainment and sports

	Damascus	Istanbul
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.00 SYP26,004	$4.78 TRY236.49	+138.8%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.71 SYP48,293	$4.31 TRY213.63	+16.2%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$2.77 SYP36,000	$2.34 TRY115.73	-15.6%
Monthly membership at local gym	$28.00 SYP364K	$76.22 TRY3,773.70	+172.2%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$5.50 SYP71,511	$8.13 TRY402.53	+47.8%
Average			+70.8%

Damascus vs. Istanbul - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 49.8% more for clothing

	Damascus	Istanbul
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$28.60 SYP372K	$53.35 TRY2,641.33	+86.5%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$40.00 SYP520K	$39.62 TRY1,961.62	-1.0%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$60.00 SYP780K	$99.91 TRY4,947.03	+66.5%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$58.33 SYP758K	$95.52 TRY4,729.71	+63.8%
Average			+49.8%

Damascus vs. Istanbul - Cost of clothing

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We average the price of thousands of data points entered by users across the world. Sources: MyLifeElsewhere's cost-of-living dataset (prices updated October 2026). How we calculate this

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